Rio men rest atop RSC preseason poll

Rio Grande/RSC Sports Information
     MIDDLETOWN, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande RedStorm have been selected as the River States Conference favorites in men's soccer, taking the top spot in the 2024 RSC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
     The poll, announced Tuesday by the league office, saw each of the conference's eight head coaches rank the other member schools in order of predicted finish.
     Rio Grande was the top selection of six of the nine coaches and garnered 62 points in the balloting, edging second place West Virginia University-Tech by four points.
     The RedStorm and the Golden Bears shared the RSC regular season title in 2023, both going 9-0-1 in RSC play. The teams played to a pair of scoreless draws - once in the regular season and again in the RSC Tournament championship match - with a WVU Tech win in penalty kicks giving the Golden Bears the tournament title.
     Head coach Scott Morrissey's club returns five of its eight All-RSC honorees from last season, including a quartet of first team picks - senior forward Joe McInnes (Airdrie, Scotland), sophomore midfielder Tommy Munoz Salazar (San Jose, Costa Rica), senior defender Harry Walsh (Letchworth Garden City, England) and senior goal keeper Matheus de Campos (Brasilia, Brazil).
     Rio's list of returnees also includes junior midfielder Justin Jimenez (Alajuela, Costa Rica), who was named to the All-RSC second team last fall.
     The RedStorm open their schedule at home on Aug. 22 when they face Saint Xavier (Ill.) as part of the RedStorm Classic.
     The remaining three first place votes went to WVU Tech, another NAIA Tournament qualifier from the 2023 season. Oakland City checks in third (49 pts.), with Shawnee State fourth (43 pts.) and - in their second year as an RSC member - Indiana University Columbus is picked to finish fifth with 30 points.
     The bottom half of the poll sees Indiana University East place sixth with 24 points, Midway at seventh (23 pts.), Saint Mary-of-the-Woods eighth (19 pts.) and Brescia rounding out the conference at ninth (16 pts).
     Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College plays the first official game of the 2024 season on Saturday, heading to Michigan for a matchup with Cleary University.
     Conference play is scheduled to begin Thursday, September 26, when the defending champions from WVU Tech head to the Hoosier State for a meeting with IU Columbus.